ALTON ORGAN SOCIETY (Founded 1967) ♬♪𝄞 Updated Thursday 5 March 2026
Alton Organ Society's 2025/2026 Season of Organ Concerts
Organ Recitals Nationwide
Tuesday 3 March 2026, the 64 strong audience was treated to the most outstanding organ concert. Carol Williams (International Concert Organist) started her organ studies when living in nearby Farringdon and practised on the St Lawrence Church Organ before studying at the Royal Academy of Music. She remarked how nice it was to become re-acquainted with her old friend. Carol then embarked on what proved to be the most memorable programme of music with compositions ranging from 1510 to 2026. Our immediate reaction was her concert set a new high in her choice of music, her own compositions, arrangements, transcriptions and sheer playing skill. Her programme can be viewed here but missing was an extra piece added without warning - Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance" transcribed for organ.
It is difficult to described carol's programme because what we heard was technical skill of the highest and a most varied programme from Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Flowers" to two jazz pieces; "Take Five" composed by saxophonist Paul Desmond and originally performed by the Dave Brubeck quartet and "Midnight Special" originally performed by Jimmy Smith on his Hammond organ (Carol has one at home!). It was also a pleasure to listen to Carol's oral programme notes on her programme with a few anecdotes thrown in for good measure. Another remarkable feature of this concert was Carol's stop settings showing off the variety of sounds emanating from the St Lawrence Church Organ.
Carol remarked that there was a perception that 16th century organ music was a bit dull and staid. Not a bit of it and this was demonstrated beautifully in her arrangement of Tylman Susato's "Suite" comprising March, Danced, Pavane and Dance. We discovered that Beethoven was an organist before he started his unique composing style ignoring convention in spite of the onset of deafness from his early 30s. We don't hear Charles Tournemire's organ works often so Carol's launch into his "Te Deum" from Cinq Improvisations was an experience. Tournemire was renowned for his improvisations and it was interesting to learn that it was Maurice Duruflé who committed the music to manuscript in the 1930s for others to perform. Carol ended her concert playing American organist and composer Gerald Near's "Carillon" to enthusiastic applause. Often we comment that a concert was "…the best ever…" only to experience a performance, like this one, that reached new heights of musicianship, excitement, variety and pleasure in hearing new music. To discover more about this immensely gifted and talented musician we urge you to visit Carol's website.
The fourth organ concert in 2026 will be given by Benjamin Scott (Sacred Heart Church, Caterham) on Tuesday 7 April 2026 starting at 8.00 pm. Refreshments will be available from 7.30 pm. Ben's programme can be viewed here.
Full details of the wonderful line up of guest organists can be seen here. Keep in touch and visit this website and see details of individual organists as their respective programmes and biographies are added. Admission to each concert is £12. However, you can take out Season Membership for £72 which is equivalent to £9 for each of the 8 organ concerts between October 25 and May 26.
Alton Organ Society Committee - New Members Welcome
The organ society committee is keen to attract new members to maintain the future success of Alton Organ Society now in its 59th year. There are tasks that do not require organ playing skills but the ability to administer the running of the society. For instance, if you are interested and able to be a graphic designer - creating posters, designing programme formats etc - and, maybe good at running a website including updating on a regular basis to keep it fresh and interesting, we would like to hear from you. If you plan to attend any of the future organ concerts and would like to discuss these roles with committee members, please do approach one of us or contact us by email - click here.
David Hill MBE organist and International Choral Director, Patron of the Alton Organ Society and past President of the Royal College of Organists very kindly recorded a CD on the St Lawrence Church, Alton, organ to celebrate 55 years of the Organ Society existence and to raise funds for the restoration of the Speechly organ. The music was recorded by Herald AV Publications, a specialist recording company, in October 2022. The CD was launched at St Lawrence Church, Alton on Tuesday 4 October 2022. The CD costs £15 of which £3.00 of the purchase price will go towards the organ restoration fund. David's CD was reviewed by Choir & Organ Magazine and copies of that review and Graeme Kay's article on the Society can be seen here. The CD can be purchased from members of the Society Committee, from Resurrection Furniture in Alton and at the Society's Organ Concerts. For further details and purchase of a CD do use the contact page here.
There is an excellent website that lists national organ concerts (including those held in Alton) and can be viewed here. Please list altonorgansociety.co.uk & Organ Recitals Nationwide among your favourites.